Where the Road Ends
by SilverFallenStars
Summary: <html><head></head>A group of survivors watch as the ground of society crumbles, and people they once knew fall in between the cracks. They try to grasp onto what was once there: humanity. But how can they hold onto something when others are stealing it away from them? (Zombie apocalypse AU)</html>


Pepper sat on her couch, a small ball of worry; her hands wrought tight in her hair. She could feel her heart beating nearly out of her chest, and the hot, wet streams trailing down her face. _This is how it ends_, she can't stop that thought from passing in her mind, but she tells herself that the governments will come up with something, they have to, right?

Thats when she hears a bullet shot from not too far away, her whole body jerks, a violent reaction from the hard truth that she, or loved ones just might not make it out alive. It could be someone taking themselves out, not having the will to survive in this new, cold world. She wants to believe that, of course, however she can't find herself truly doing so.

Her fingers itch to pick up the phone, to tell Tony what's happening, if he hadn't already figured it out. She snuffs up her running nose, and wipes the tears off with the back of her hand, reaching over to the small coffee table; still not unclasping her knees that, were now digging into her chest. Just as she dialed in the number, and was about to hit the '_enter_' button the door bursts open. Her hand jumps to the kitchen knife beside where the phone had been, quickly reaching to her feet, she almost ran at the visitor until she saw it was who she was going to call.

As Pepper drops the knife it lands with a clatter on the hardwood floor, she wraps her arms around him instead, she hears the door click into place, and a car screeching to a stop outside. She starts to sob into his shoulder, he's stiff, smells like smoke, and blood. Soon he relaxes in her embrace, rubbing her back, trying to calm the hysterical mess she'd become.

She knew this would come along, eventually, but not this soon. The end of the world had snuck up on her. It had started as unrest, the usual, expected, normal despite it's horror. But it didn't take long for the suspicion to dawn that this was not normal. It was breaking out in the most incongruous places. Elementary teachers would turn on their pupils. Small children viciously attacked their parents. The elderly slaughtered their care workers with their arthritic hands; a strength they couldn't possess. And it was contagious. Attack survivors were taken to hospital, convulsing in agony, only to murder their saviours hours later.

Killers began to eat their victims. Raw. It was rumour, still, but Pepper found it true on a trip for chinese takeout, a man: rail-thin, almost grey, no shirt, no shoes. Bent over, hunched in the most strange position, in hand a limp squirrel, bright crimson spilled over his hands, mouth. It stumbled at her on first sight, so she ran, her life was owed to the stranger that bashed it over the head with a shovel. The image haunted her nights, and days, now, she guessed she had to endure it more. And was she afraid, more afraid than ever.

Her hands pulled on Tony's shirt as she wailed, then her hand came to a sticky spot on his back. Quickly she pulled away from him, a look of horror crossed her face as her eye darted across his, trying to find something to tell her that he wasn't bitten. His eyebrows pushed together, his arms still out, nearly around her, but not quite. Her words came out in a blur, she tripped over them trying to find the right ones.

"Pep, I'm fine, some idiot thought I was an..Undead, and swung their knife at me!" He looked at her shocked that she would guess some as insane as that. He would never risk her life, if he was bitten, he'd never come here.

Pepper spun around him, placing her hands over the wound. Her eyes traced the blood splatter, it didn't look like a bite, though, she wasn't too sure. She yanked up the shirt to show the cut, it wasn't too deep. Her eyebrow formed a deep crease between them, she rushed to her bathroom, grabbing the alcohol, and cotton balls.

The two listened to the sounds of screeching tires, and ever-so-often a moan, or gunshot as she cleaned the cut in his back. Other than the loud noises outside, and the water freely dripping from the sink it was silence. Even though, Pepper hadn't been outside, only faced one undead, she was so tired, all she wanted to do was curled up in her bed, and sleep, and she couldn't do that, with the nightmares, and the dangers lurking outside. She let out a deep sigh, blowing up her bangs at the same time, then pressed her lips together in a thin line to get ready to speak:

"What it is like out there?"

"Horrible." Tony replied. "Nutsos running all over the place, people driving hazardly into sidewalks, and other people. And...Rotters."

Pepper dropped her hands from the bandages she had wrapped around his ribs, and sighed, again, letting a few more silent tears to fall out. _This is how it ends._

* * *

><p>"<em>As of 1600 hours quarantines in Franklin, and Yates, New York were over run. New quarantines are now set up in St. Lawrence; Jefferson; Lewis; Herkimer; Hamilton; Ontario; Livingston; Schuyler, Steuben, and Long Island, New York…."<em>

Compared to any other day in the city this one is eerily quiet. On another day it would be roar with the sounds of traffic, but today there wasn't an beep of one single horn. It is almost like the world is dead outside. And other than the TV's audio echoing through the room inside, Pepper's apartment was quiet too.

She stalks the length of her living room, fretting, and fidgeting. It had been three days since the Infection was announced, other than multiple quarantines being set up, or over run, there wasn't another word of what was happening in different towns. And with her, and Tony shacked up in the small amount of safety, too worried to even step a foot outside her door, they really had no clue. In the meantime, Tony had taken extra jugs, pitchers, and filled them with water, so when it was cut off they could have some until they were forced outside. In the beginning Tony called a pizza place to find none, that he knew of, were open. Almost every restaurant was closed, and he guessed it was silly to assume they wouldn't be, most everyone are afraid to catch the virus, and most don't know exactly how it is spread.

Pepper's passing came to an erupted stop as she heard a loud humming, she rushes to the window, nearly sticking her face up against the glass, she sees it; army trucks, soldiers hanging off every area of them, killing any undead close by. She gulps, it really is true, Long Island is being closed off from the rest of the world. Tony joined her by the window, watching as five trucks go by, that's when they let out the recording sound:

"This area is now quarantined. No one comes in, no one gets out. Please stay in your homes, if necessary, please be quick outside. If you come in contact with an Infected; serve the head, wash up admittedly after. If you are bitten, scratched, or show symptoms of the Infection tie a red cloth outside your window. Do not come in contact with others if you carry the symptoms of sore-throat, aching eyes, running, and/or blocked nose, bloody nose, easy bruising, blisters, troubled breathing, shallow breath, coughing, nausea, dehydration, delusions and more often high temperature, seizures, aching bones/muscles, and extreme headaches. The symptoms will last for three days, if you make it past those three-day, you do not have the Infection."

The recording starts to attracted more Infected, the truck starts to be surrounded, even with the different soldiers taking out what they can. One is pulled off into the sea of scrawny arms, he flails his arms to grab onto something. His fingers hook around another soldier's arm, he reacts by clasping his hand around his wrist, another soldier grabs his back, her small hands grasps at his bulletproof vest. The two, going on four soldiers try to pull him back on, but it seems the undead are stronger than they look. The dangling soldier's foot is bit into when Pepper turns away from the window, her hand over her mouth, and nose as she feels the tears falling down her face, again.

She rushes to her closest, sitting in between her dirty laundry basket, and a suitcase she finds herself crying for the third time in the three days. Tony is there, not long after, he kneels down to her level, taking her into his arms.

"How?" Pepper whispers. "How does something like this happen?" Her voice is rough, hoarse through the tears, and from the lack of using her voice in last days.

"When the gates of hell are overflown, the dead will walk along the living." He replys in an ominous voice, trying to lighten the mood, but the ginger pulls a bit, and looks him dead in the eyes.

"If that were true I don't think they'd try, and eat the living." Her voice is still a whisper even though she tried her best to make her voice louder. Her eyes started to dry up, she had started to notice that she had run out of tears, she cried, still, but the wet streams only lasted how long before they were replaced with raspy groans, and gasps of crying. "Tony, what are we going to do?" For the first time since the Infection was announced, she chuckled, though it was far from a laugh of joy, verging on the edge of desperation, it was still a laugh.

She felt so weak, pathetic, and tired during this time. She felt as if she had lived a lifetime in that matter of a few days, and because of the sleepless, endless nights it seemed worse. She felt like she just couldn't handle anything without nearly having tears spill over, or her stomach churn with disgust. And, yet, she couldn't shake that this was a dream.

Tony pulled her from the closet, holding her as he was; propped up against the bed. Unlike Pepper, it really didn't occur to him that this was happening, and was real. But he knew when it really hits him, it'll hit him like a bag of bricks. Hard, cold, true. It probably be too much, he decides he'd maybe go off on a murderous rampage. He's mostly afraid of when that time comes he might get himself killed, or worse Pepper.

* * *

><p>Time, and time again proved that nighttime was alway the most difficult. The two sat on the couch, eyes glued to the television, but more listen to the chaos outside. The hoard from early that day still was there, attacking the few people to make the horrible mistake of crossing paths. By that time Pepper forbid herself from looking out the window for the one time she did the sight was burned into her memory: a hundred Infected, maybe more, hunched over the corpse of the soldier, tearing at his stomach, one bashed his head on the ground repeatedly to spills the brains out, blood stained the sidewalk, and leftover clothing barely hanging on the Infected.<p>

A door opens, it's to this building. Tony stands up from the couch, and places his eye in front of peep-hole, trying to position himself to see where that person is going. It's a man in the hallway, he makes his way down stairs, holding a fire axe, his intention with it are clear. Tony finds himself urging to open the door, give the man a piece of his mind, but he fights the thoughts down. Soon as the man went out of sight, Tony freaked. He rushed to the side of Pepper's bed, grabbing the metal baseball bat, all while screaming about the man. It had hit him, the idea about their safety. The ginger starts following him around as he frantically stumbles around the apartment, she tries to make sense of what he was saying but fails to.

"A man, Pepper!" He turns, screaming, at this time she notices how much he looks like a wild animal in a cage. "He's going to get us killed!" He swings open the door, holding the bat in a fighting stance. He didn't get to move outside the door too much before she grabs the back of his tee-shirt, and pulls him back into the room, shutting the door with her foot. She pins him against the wall.

"Tony, calm down." She's an inch away from his face, worry, anger, fright is boiling in her blood. "And another thing, I don't care if that hallway is full with infected, as long as that door doesn't open we are staying in here." Her voice turns thick, horse. "This apartment, and you are the only things I have to contact myself to a world that made sense, one where the dead doesn't walk along the living, and try to kill us!" She always tried to be realistic, so everything about this disease surprised her, thinking about the dead walking among the living was _not_ something a normal person thought could happen, and yet, here it was.

A rain of gunfire went off startling both of them. It was followed by the door slamming, shaking the whole build, soon the moans started up, turning into growling, and hollow thuds of them banging themselves on the door over, and over again echoed through the bricks. Tony presses his eye to the hole again, trying to figure what the undead are doing outside. When he couldn't see much of anything he latched the chain-lock, and opens the door just slightly to peek outside. The hinges whine as he opens the door to get the attention of a rotter inside the building. It hurries to the door, as Tony slams it shut, cutting off three of the undead's finger's in the process.

With the baseball bat still clutched in his fist he pulls Pepper away from the door, the thing on the other side of the door lets out a screech, alarming the others, and slams it's body into the door. The ginger lets out a whimper, hearing the groans grew louder. Pulling her by her hand, the brunette leads them to the window leading to the fire escape: it's a long climb, he finds out as he stares to the alley below. But it's the only safe way to get them out of here before the Infected burst through the downstairs door. There was only a short amount of time for Pepper to pack a backpack, as the few undead in the building were set on tearing down their door. She rushed to grab the flashlight from the living room when the door split in half, letting the dead inside, she drops the bag, it's contents spill over the floor.

The rotter lets out another screech as did the ginger, now running to the back of the apartment. At this time Tony was in her apartment's hallway, the two both tripped over their own feet as they rushed to get to the window. Their hands clawed at the window, much like how the Infected clawed at them, the brunette had it opened first, of course he left her through before him. The end of the baseball bat met with a sunken-in face then he followed his girlfriend out the window. The two slammed the glass down before looking down at the alley.

Their breaths were shallow but they still saw the smoking clouds drift up, and disappear into the inky night. Now two could see just how crazy it was out here. Out towards Queens were huge fires, three streets over looked like military trucks trying to save people from the hordes.

They climbed down at a moderate pace, not wanting to fall off, or attract more walkers, but at the same time they were hurried to get off of the shaky iron stairs, especially with the undead shuffling into the alley instead. Both of them jump a bit backwards when they reached to the twentieth floor. They should have seen it coming with the red shirt tied to the pole, a woman: her hair thinning, and sunken cheeks jumped through a small hole in the shattered glass. Tony, thankfully, reacted fast by hitting her over the head with his baseball bat, then grabbed her waist, chucking her over the edge. At that point he slumped down the wall, out of breath from panic, Pepper settled herself next to him, hoping to keep some body heat in the cold, early-fall night. Tony has his head resting on the cool of metal bat, he lets out a shaky sigh. _This is what Pepper must have felt like in the beginning_, he quickly thinks. His heart is beating out of chest, he's in a cold sweat, and all he feels is the stirring in his stomach, the welling in his eyes.

"I didn't realise how real this is until now." He admits.

It's the ginger's turn to be the strong one, in response she puts her hand on his shoulder, comfortingly, while letting out a sigh. "I know. But we have to keep moving, it only matter of time before they either fill up the alley, or finally break down that door. Either way, we won't have a very easy time out." She stands up, fixing her shirt, then wiping under her eye to check for tears, quite happy when she found that it was all dry.

Tony stands, humming with a 'mmhmm,' before they start moving again. This time as soon as he had gotten to a new lift he held up the bat in a defensive stance. Soon enough the two found their way to the last lift, hovering over a rental garbage bin. The ten undead, clawing and pushing their way to, and on top of that bin. The two pushed their back up against the cold brick, hoping to stay out of the Infected's grip, at least until one of them come up with a plan. As the brunette was doing so. His head turn back, and forth; the other end of alley didn't have any walkers, and had either a fire extinguisher, or a fire axe in one of those small red boxes hooked up on the wall.

He step up, and bashed a rotter's head, starting explain his plan: "Pep, I have a plan, after I hit two more of _these_ I want you to run down that end." He jerked his head to the left. "Down there, there is a small red box, do you see it?" Pepper nodded, before Tony continued hitting one more of the heads. "There's either an axe, or extinguisher in it, get it, meet me back halfway."

He hit furthest left one with a good right-swing, then hit another undead next to it. The ginger darted, jumping over the metal fencing, and, surprisingly landing with ease. When she got to the box she was pleased to see that there was something in there, even more excited when she saw it was an axe. She took the metal end of the water hose next to it, and broke the glass, rushing she grabbed the axe. To her shock it was heavier than she would have thought. Following the plan she starts to head back, seeing an Infected already beat her to the middle, she jumps out of the way to avoid it's grasping, bloody hands. But the moving out of the way didn't help her case at all, it moved along with her, to pin her against a wall. Pepper swung the axe into the creature's shoulder, it reacted with a squawking groan, alarming the others.

"Tony!" She calls for help, trying to kick the thing far enough away from her. And once she got it an arms-reach away the blade of the axe met with undead's head. With more near her she didn't have much room to use her weapon, it looked like another end, until she heard the tings of metal. Now, on the ground, she looked up at Tony, relieved, scared, and adrenaline pumping throughout her body.

"You've got a bit of-" He waves his fingers around the side of his head, not wanting to say out loud that it was another person's brains. "-in your hair."

That, and the smell of the death sent the ginger over, then start to violently upchuck everything she had eaten in the last day. The other person's nose went up with dismay, but showed his concerns by rubbing her on the back, and hitting a rotter's head over again, since it tried to get up in jerky movements. And that sent her hurling again.

"You know, they never tell you how bad the end of the world smells," He comments. "Because, right now, it smells worse than a gas station bathroom."

Pepper moves to lean on the cool brick. "You are not helping." She lets out a spit of whatever was left in her mouth before standing up, slowly. Lifting the axe up she affords it to the brunette, who returned his answer by shaking his head. "Do have another plan, genius?"

"Matter-of-fact, I do," He retorts, his normal demeanor not the slight bit dampened. "Lulu's Auto-Shop is just down the road; they kept a key in the porch light, we can hole up in there till morning."

Tony was right, and she knew it too.

The only problem is the street is packed with Infected.

He led them out of the alley, trying to be as quiet as he could. As he did he could feel the fear creep up inside him, his bat starts to slip out of his grip from the sweaty hands. The ginger felt the same, her stomach still bubbling with disgust. They snuck behind a group, watching as the undead's muscle twitched, and jerked. Unnerving them with every movement. They only got half way there when Pepper let out a hiss as she stepped on some stray ruble, as the brunette realised she didn't have shoes, the walking corpses noticed them. Four turned into ten, into twenty, till it was nearly all of them from this street. The pair ran to the nearest alley, and turns into it. It was a dead-end, Tony's eyes flicker to his girlfriend's, then to the pack closing in on them. Again, they press their backs to the damp brick, the ginger falls through a small opening in the wall next to her. He threw himself in the hole after her.

It was damp, water dripped from the ceiling, but the far side had red rusted door.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: *I do not own any characters you see in this, however I own the plot***

**You like? You hate it? You utterly despise it?**

**I tried to refrain from posting, but soon enough I had ten chapters planned out, and it was the one storyline I was thinking about. I do I feel like I need to say that this, for the most part, will be a No Powers AU, I hope that this doesn't disappoint you.**

**Please review on what you think! The reviews will be very much appreciated, and encouraging.**

**Thank you for reading, and I look forward to seeing during the zombie apocalypse.**


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